Raster design for narrowband operation for machine type communications

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for design of channel raster for narrowband operation. One example method, performed by a base station, generally includes determining, based on one or more conditions, an exact frequency location of one channel of one or more channels to perform narrowband communications with a user equipment. The method also includes transmitting an indication of the one or more conditions to the user equipment. The method further includes communicating with the UE, based at least in part on the exact frequency location of the one channel.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/356,813, filed Mar. 18, 2019, which is a divisional of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/387,970, filed Dec. 22, 2016, which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/279,652, filed Jan.15, 2016, U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/295,132, filed Feb.14, 2016, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/308,000, filedMar. 14, 2016, each of which are assigned to the assignee hereof andhereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND I. Field of the Disclosure

Certain aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wirelesscommunications and, more particularly, to design of a frequency rasterfor narrowband operation.

II. Description of Related Art

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, data, and so on. Thesesystems may be multiple-access systems capable of supportingcommunication with multiple users by sharing the available systemresources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power). Examples of suchmultiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA)systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA) systems, 3rd Generation PartnershipProject (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE)/LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systemsand orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems.

Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system cansimultaneously support communication for multiple wireless terminals.Each terminal communicates with one or more base stations viatransmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (ordownlink) refers to the communication link from the base stations to theterminals, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communicationlink from the terminals to the base stations. This communication linkmay be established via a single-input single-output, multiple-inputsingle-output or a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system.

A wireless communication network may include a number of base stationsthat can support communication for a number of wireless devices.Wireless devices may include user equipments (UEs). Some UEs may beconsidered machine type communication(s) (MTC) UEs, which may includeremote devices that may communicate with a base station, another remotedevice, or some other entity. Machine type communications (MTC) mayrefer to communication involving at least one remote device on at leastone end of the communication and may include forms of data communicationwhich involve one or more entities that do not necessarily need humaninteraction. MTC UEs may include UEs that are capable of MTCcommunications with MTC servers and/or other MTC devices through PublicLand Mobile Networks (PLMN), for example.

SUMMARY

The systems, methods, and devices of the disclosure each have severalaspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirableattributes. Without limiting the scope of this disclosure as expressedby the claims which follow, some features will now be discussed briefly.After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading thesection entitled “Detailed Description” one will understand how thefeatures of this disclosure provide advantages that include improvedcommunications between access points and stations in a wireless network.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wirelesscommunications by a base station (BS). The method generally includesdetermining, based on one or more conditions, an exact frequencylocation of one channel of one or more channels to perform narrowbandcommunications with a UE. The method also includes transmitting anindication of the one or more conditions to the UE. The method furtherincludes communicating with the UE, based at least in part on the exactfrequency location of the one channel.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus forwireless communications. The apparatus generally includes at least oneprocessor, and a memory coupled to the at least one processor. The atleast one processor is configured to determine, based on one or moreconditions, an exact frequency location of one channel of one or morechannels to perform narrowband communications with a UE. The at leastone processor is also configured to transmit an indication of the one ormore conditions to the UE. The at least one processor is furtherconfigured to communicate with the UE, based at least in part on theexact frequency location of the channel.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus forwireless communications. The apparatus generally includes means fordetermining, based on one or more conditions, an exact frequencylocation of one channel of one or more channels to perform narrowbandcommunications with a UE. The apparatus also includes means fortransmitting an indication of the one or more conditions to the UE. Theapparatus also includes means for communicating with the UE, based atleast in part on the exact frequency location of the one channel.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a computer-readablemedium having computer executable code stored thereon. The computerexecutable code generally includes code for determining, by a BS, basedon one or more conditions, an exact frequency location of one channel ofone or more channels to perform narrowband communications with a UE. Thecomputer executable code also includes code for transmitting, by the BS,an indication of the one or more conditions to the UE. The computerexecutable code further includes code for communicating by the BS withthe UE, based at least in part on the exact frequency location of theone channel.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wirelesscommunications by a UE. The method generally includes performing a cellsearch in one or more channels. The method also includes determiningthat a cell is present in one of the one or more channels, anddetermining, based on one or more conditions, an exact frequencylocation of the one channel for narrowband communications with a BS. Themethod further includes communicating with the BS, based at least inpart on the exact frequency location of the one channel.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus. Theapparatus generally includes at least one processor and a memory coupledto the at least one processor. The at least one processor is configuredto perform a cell search in one or more channels. The at least oneprocessor is also configured to determine that a cell is present in oneof the one or more channels, and determine, based on one or moreconditions, an exact frequency location of the one channel fornarrowband communications with a BS. The at least one processor isfurther configured to communicate with the BS, based at least in part onthe exact frequency location of the one channel.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus. Theapparatus generally includes means for performing a cell search in oneor more channels. The apparatus also includes means for determining thata cell is present in one of the one or more channels, and means fordetermining, based on one or more conditions, an exact frequencylocation of the one channel for narrowband communications with a BS. Theapparatus further includes communicating with the BS, based at least inpart on the exact frequency location of the one channel.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a computer-readablemedium having computer executable code stored thereon. The computerexecutable code generally includes code for performing, by a UE, a cellsearch in one or more channels. The computer executable code alsoincludes code for determining, by the UE, that a cell is present in oneof the one or more channels, and code for determining, by the UE, basedon one or more conditions, an exact frequency location of the onechannel for narrowband communications with a BS. The computer executablecode further includes code for communicating, by the UE with the BS,based at least in part on the exact frequency location of the onechannel.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wirelesscommunications by a UE. The method generally includes performing a cellsearch in one or more channels. The method also includes determiningthat a cell is present in one channel of the one or more channels, anddetermining a frequency location of the one channel, a number of antennaports, and a deployment mode for narrowband communications with a BS ofthe cell. The method further includes communicating with the BS, basedat least in part on the frequency location of the one channel, thenumber of antenna ports, and the deployment mode.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus. Theapparatus generally includes at least one processor and a memory coupledto the at least one processor. The at least one processor is configuredto perform a cell search in one or more channels. The at least oneprocessor is also configured to determine that a cell is present in onechannel of the one or more channels, and determine a frequency locationof the one channel, a number of antenna ports, and a deployment mode fornarrowband communications with a BS of the cell. The at least oneprocessor is further configured to communicate with the BS, based atleast in part on the frequency location of the one channel, the numberof antenna ports, and the deployment mode.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus. Theapparatus generally includes means for performing a cell search in oneor more channels. The apparatus also includes means for determining thata cell is present in one channel of the one or more channels, and meansfor determining a frequency location of the one channel, a number ofantenna ports, and a deployment mode for narrowband communications witha BS of the cell. The apparatus further includes means for communicatingwith the BS, based at least in part on the frequency location of the onechannel, the number of antenna ports, and the deployment mode.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a computer-readablemedium having computer executable code stored thereon. The computerexecutable code generally includes code for performing, by a UE, a cellsearch in one or more channels. The computer executable code alsoincludes code for determining, by the UE, that a cell is present in onechannel of the one or more channels, and code for determining, by theUE, a frequency location of the one channel, a number of antenna ports,and a deployment mode for narrowband communications with a BS of thecell. The computer executable code further includes code forcommunicating by the UE with the BS, based at least in part on thefrequency location of the one channel, the number of antenna ports, andthe deployment mode.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wirelesscommunications by a BS. The method generally includes transmitting, to aUE, information indicative of a frequency location of a channel of oneor more channels, a number of antenna ports, and a deployment mode fornarrowband communications with the BS. The method also includescommunicating with the UE, based at least in part on the frequencylocation of the channel, the number of antenna ports, and the deploymentmode.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus. Theapparatus generally includes at least one processor and a memory coupledto the at least one processor. The at least one processor is configuredto transmit to a UE information indicative of a frequency location of achannel of one or more channels, a number of antenna ports, and adeployment mode for narrowband communications with the apparatus. The atleast one processor is also configured to communicate with the UE, basedat least in part on the frequency location of the channel, the number ofantenna ports, and the deployment mode.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus. Theapparatus generally includes means for transmitting, to a UE,information indicative of a frequency location of a channel of one ormore channels, a number of antenna ports, and a deployment mode fornarrowband communications with the apparatus. The apparatus alsoincludes means for communicating with the UE, based at least in part onthe frequency location of the channel, the number of antenna ports, andthe deployment mode.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a computer-readablemedium having computer executable code stored thereon. The computerexecutable code generally includes code for transmitting by a BS to a UEinformation indicative of a frequency location of a channel of one ormore channels, a number of antenna ports, and a deployment mode fornarrowband communications with the BS. The computer executable code alsoincludes code for communicating by the BS with the UE, based at least inpart on the frequency location of the channel, the number of antennaports, and the deployment mode.

Numerous other aspects are provided including methods, apparatus,systems, computer program products, computer-readable medium, andprocessing systems. To the accomplishment of the foregoing and relatedends, the one or more aspects comprise the features hereinafter fullydescribed and particularly pointed out in the claims. The followingdescription and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certainillustrative features of the one or more aspects. These features areindicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which theprinciples of various aspects may be employed, and this description isintended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above-recited features of the presentdisclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description,briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to aspects, some ofwhich are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted,however, that the appended drawings illustrate only certain typicalaspects of this disclosure and are therefore not to be consideredlimiting of its scope, for the description may admit to other equallyeffective aspects.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of awireless communication network, in accordance with certain aspects ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of abase station in communication with a user equipment (UE) in a wirelesscommunications network, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary frame structure for frequency divisionduplexing (FDD) in long term evolution (LTE).

FIG. 4 shows two exemplary subframe formats with the normal cyclicprefix.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example system where the frequency raster isdifferent than the channel bandwidths, in accordance with certainaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates example operations that may be performed by a basestation (BS), in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates example operations that may be performed by a userequipment (UE), in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of applying a tone shift to align with araster frequency, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates example operations that may be performed by a BS, inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates example operations that may be performed by a UE, inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a table for SIB1bis scheduling, inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of another table for SIB1bis scheduling,in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been usedwhere possible, to designate identical elements that are common to thefigures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one embodimentmay be beneficially utilized on other embodiments without specificrecitation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to design ofa frequency raster for narrowband operation. As described in more detailbelow, aspects presented herein allow devices in a communication networkto determine, based on one or more conditions, an exact frequencylocation of a channel for narrowband communications. Once determined,the devices may communicate based in part on the frequency location ofthe channel. In some aspects, devices in the network may also determineat least one of a number of antenna ports or a deployment mode fornarrowband communications in the communication network. Once determined,the communication between the devices may be further based on the numberof antenna ports and the deployment mode.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunication networks such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA andother networks. The terms “network” and “system” are often usedinterchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a radio technology such asuniversal terrestrial radio access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includeswideband CDMA (WCDMA), time division synchronous CDMA (TD-SCDMA), andother variants of CDMA. cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856standards. A TDMA network may implement a radio technology such asglobal system for mobile communications (GSM). An OFDMA network mayimplement a radio technology such as evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), ultra mobilebroadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20,Flash-OFDM®, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of universal mobiletelecommunication system (UMTS). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) andLTE-Advanced (LTE-A), in both frequency division duplex (FDD) and timedivision duplex (TDD), are new releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA, whichemploys OFDMA on the downlink and SC-FDMA on the uplink. UTRA, E-UTRA,UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSM are described in documents from an organizationnamed “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB aredescribed in documents from an organization named “3rd GenerationPartnership Project 2” (3GPP2). The techniques described herein may beused for the wireless networks and radio technologies mentioned above aswell as other wireless networks and radio technologies. LTE, LTE-A, LTEin an unlicensed spectrum (LTE-whitespace), etc. are generally referredto as LTE. For clarity, certain aspects of the techniques are describedbelow for LTE, and LTE terminology is used in much of the descriptionbelow.

Example Wireless Communication System

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication network 100, inwhich aspects of the present disclosure may be practiced. For example,UEs and eNBs shown in FIG. 1 may use techniques presented herein todetermine at least one of a type of deployment mode for narrowbandoperation or precise (e.g., exact) frequency location for narrowbandcommunications.

The network 100 may be an LTE network or some other wireless network.Wireless network 100 may include a number of evolved Node Bs (eNBs) 110and other network entities. An eNB is an entity that communicates withuser equipments (UEs) and may also be referred to as a base station, aNode B, an access point, etc. Each eNB may provide communicationcoverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term “cell” canrefer to a coverage area of an eNB and/or an eNB subsystem serving thiscoverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

An eNB may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell,a femto cell, and/or other types of cell. A macro cell may cover arelatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius)and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. Apico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allowunrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto cell maycover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allowrestricted access by UEs having association with the femto cell (e.g.,UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG)). An eNB for a macro cell may bereferred to as a macro eNB. An eNB for a pico cell may be referred to asa pico eNB. An eNB for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto eNB ora home eNB (HeNB). In the example shown in FIG. 1, an eNB 110 a may be amacro eNB for a macro cell 102 a, an eNB 110 b may be a pico eNB for apico cell 102 b, and an eNB 110 c may be a femto eNB for a femto cell102 c. An eNB may support one or multiple (e.g., three) cells. The terms“eNB”, “base station” and “cell” may be used interchangeably herein.

Wireless network 100 may also include relay stations. A relay station isan entity that can receive a transmission of data from an upstreamstation (e.g., an eNB or a UE) and send a transmission of the data to adownstream station (e.g., a UE or an eNB). A relay station may also be aUE that can relay transmissions for other UEs. In the example shown inFIG. 1, a relay station 110 d may communicate with macro eNB 110 a and aUE 120 d in order to facilitate communication between eNB 110 a and UE120 d. A relay station may also be referred to as a relay eNB, a relaybase station, a relay, etc.

Wireless network 100 may be a heterogeneous network that includes eNBsof different types, e.g., macro eNBs, pico eNBs, femto eNBs, relay eNBs,etc. These different types of eNBs may have different transmit powerlevels, different coverage areas, and different impact on interferencein wireless network 100. For example, macro eNBs may have a hightransmit power level (e.g., 5 to 40 Watts) whereas pico eNBs, femtoeNBs, and relay eNBs may have lower transmit power levels (e.g., 0.1 to2 Watts).

A network controller 130 may couple to a set of eNBs and may providecoordination and control for these eNBs. Network controller 130 maycommunicate with the eNBs via a backhaul. The eNBs may also communicatewith one another, e.g., directly or indirectly via a wireless orwireline backhaul.

UEs 120 (e.g., 120 a, 120 b, 120 c) may be dispersed throughout wirelessnetwork 100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. A UE may also bereferred to as an access terminal, a terminal, a mobile station, asubscriber unit, a station, etc. A UE may be a cellular phone, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wirelesscommunication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordlessphone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet, a smart phone, anetbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, a drone, a robot/robotic device, awearable device (e.g., smart watch, smart glasses, smart goggles, smartwristband, smart ring, smart bracelet, smart clothing), a medicaldevice, a vehicular device, etc. Some UEs may be considered machine typecommunication (MTC) UEs, which may include remote devices, such assensors, meters, location tags, monitors, drones, robots/roboticdevices, etc. In general, MTC devices may include a broad class ofdevices in wireless communications including, but not limited to:Internet of Things (IoT) devices, Internet of Everything (IoE) devices,wearable devices and low cost devices. MTC UEs, as well as other typesof UEs, may be implemented as narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT)devices. In FIG. 1, a solid line with double arrows indicates desiredtransmissions between a UE and a serving eNB, which is an eNB designatedto serve the UE on the downlink and/or uplink. A dashed line with doublearrows indicates potentially interfering transmissions between a UE andan eNB.

One or more UEs 120 in the wireless communication network 100 (e.g., anLTE network) may also be a narrowband bandwidth UE. These UEs mayco-exist with legacy and/or advanced UEs (e.g., capable of operating ona wider bandwidth) in the LTE network and may have one or morecapabilities that are limited when compared to the other UEs in thewireless network. For example, in LTE Rel-12, when compared to legacyand/or advanced UEs in the LTE network, the narrowband UEs may operatewith one or more of the following: a reduction in maximum bandwidth(relative to legacy UEs), a single receive radio frequency (RF) chain,reduction of peak rate (e.g., a maximum of 1000 bits for a transportblock size (TBS) may be supported), reduction of transmit power, rank 1transmission, half duplex operation, etc. In some cases, if half duplexoperation is supported, the narrowband UEs may have a relaxed switchingtiming from transmit to receive (or from receive to transmit)operations. For example, in one case, compared to a switching timing of20 microseconds (us) for legacy and/or advanced UEs, the narrowband UEsmay have a relaxed switching timing of 1 millisecond (ms).

In some cases, the narrowband UEs (e.g., in LTE Release 12 and beyond,e.g., 5G releases) may also be able to monitor downlink (DL) controlchannels in the same away as legacy and/or advanced UEs in the LTEnetwork monitor DL control channels. For example, Release 12 narrowbandUEs may still monitor downlink (DL) control channels in the same way asregular UEs, for example, monitoring for wideband control channels inthe first few symbols (e.g., physical downlink control channel (PDCCH))as well as narrowband control channels occupying a relativelynarrowband, but spanning a length of a subframe (e.g., enhanced PDCCH(ePDCCH)).

Narrowband UEs may be limited to a particular narrowband assignment of1.4 MHz or six resource blocks (RBs) partitioned out of the availablesystem bandwidth) while co-existing within a wider system bandwidth(e.g., at 1.4/3/5/10/15/20 MHz). Additionally, narrowband UEs may alsobe able to support one or more coverage modes of operation. For example,the narrowband UE may be able to support coverage enhancements up to 15dB.

As used herein, devices with limited communication resources, e.g.smaller bandwidth, may be referred to generally as narrowband UEs.Similarly, legacy devices, such as legacy and/or advanced UEs (e.g., inLTE) may be referred to generally as wideband UEs. Generally, widebandUEs are capable of operating on a larger amount of bandwidth thannarrowband UEs.

In some cases, a UE (e.g., a narrowband UE or a wideband UE) may performa cell search and acquisition procedure before communicating in thenetwork. In one case, with reference to the LTE network illustrated inFIG. 1 as an example, the cell search and acquisition procedure may beperformed when the UE is not connected to a LTE cell and wants to accessthe LTE network. In these cases, the UE may have just powered on,restored a connection after temporarily losing connection to the LTEcell, etc.

In other cases, the cell search and acquisition procedure may beperformed when the UE is already connected to a LTE cell. For example,the UE may have detected a new LTE cell and may prepare a handover tothe new cell. As another example, the UE may be operating in one or morelow power states (e.g., may support discontinuous reception (DRX)) and,upon exiting the one or more low power states, may have to perform thecell search and acquisition procedure (even though the UE is still inconnected mode).

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a design of BS/eNB 110 and UE 120, whichmay be one of the BSs/eNBs and one of the UEs in FIG. 1. BS 110 may beequipped with T antennas 234 a through 234 t, and UE 120 may be equippedwith R antennas 252 a through 252 r, where in general T≥1 and R≥1.

At BS 110, a transmit processor 220 may receive data from a data source212 for one or more UEs, select one or more modulation and codingschemes (MCS) for each UE based on CQIs received from the UE, process(e.g., encode and modulate) the data for each UE based on the MCS(s)selected for the UE, and provide data symbols for all UEs. Transmitprocessor 220 may also process system information (e.g., for SRPI, etc.)and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, upper layersignaling, etc.) and provide overhead symbols and control symbols.Processor 220 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals(e.g., the CRS) and synchronization signals (e.g., the PSS and SSS). Atransmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 mayperform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, thecontrol symbols, the overhead symbols, and/or the reference symbols, ifapplicable, and may provide T output symbol streams to T modulators(MODs) 232 a through 232 t. Each modulator 232 may process a respectiveoutput symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output samplestream. Each modulator 232 may further process (e.g., convert to analog,amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain adownlink signal. T downlink signals from modulators 232 a through 232 tmay be transmitted via T antennas 234 a through 234 t, respectively.

At UE 120, antennas 252 a through 252 r may receive the downlink signalsfrom base station 110 and/or other base stations and may providereceived signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254 a through 254 r,respectively. Each demodulator 254 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify,downconvert, and digitize) its received signal to obtain input samples.Each demodulator 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., forOFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 256 may obtainreceived symbols from all R demodulators 254 a through 254 r, performMIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and providedetected symbols. A receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulateand decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for UE 120 to adata sink 260, and provide decoded control information and systeminformation to a controller/processor 280. A channel processor maydetermine RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, etc.

On the uplink, at UE 120, a transmit processor 264 may receive andprocess data from a data source 262 and control information (e.g., forreports comprising RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, etc.) fromcontroller/processor 280. Processor 264 may also generate referencesymbols for one or more reference signals. The symbols from transmitprocessor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 if applicable,further processed by modulators 254 a through 254 r (e.g., for SC-FDM,OFDM, etc.), and transmitted to BS 110. At BS 110, the uplink signalsfrom UE 120 and other UEs may be received by antennas 234, processed bydemodulators 232, detected by a MIMO detector 236 if applicable, andfurther processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data andcontrol information sent by UE 120. Processor 238 may provide thedecoded data to a data sink 239 and the decoded control information tocontroller/processor 240. BS 110 may include communication unit 244 andcommunicate to network controller 130 via communication unit 244.Network controller 130 may include communication unit 294,controller/processor 290, and memory 292.

Controllers/processors 240 and 280 may direct the operation at BS 110and UE 120, respectively. For example, controller/processor 280 and/orother processors and modules at UE 120, may perform or direct operations700 shown in FIG. 7, operations 1000 shown in FIG. 10 and/or otherprocesses for the techniques described herein. Controller/processor 240and/or other processors and modules at BS 110 may perform or directionoperations 600 shown in FIG. 6, operations 900 shown in FIG. 9 and/orother processes for the techniques described herein. Memories 242 and282 may store data and program codes for BS 110 and UE 120,respectively. A scheduler 246 may schedule UEs for data transmission onthe downlink and/or uplink.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary frame structure 300 for FDD in LTE. Thetransmission timeline for each of the downlink and uplink may bepartitioned into units of radio frames. Each radio frame may have apredetermined duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms)) and may bepartitioned into 10 subframes with indices of 0 through 9. Each subframemay include two slots. Each radio frame may thus include 20 slots withindices of 0 through 19. Each slot may include L symbol periods, e.g.,seven symbol periods for a normal cyclic prefix (as shown in FIG. 3) orsix symbol periods for an extended cyclic prefix. The 2L symbol periodsin each subframe may be assigned indices of 0 through 2L−1.

In LTE, an eNB may transmit a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and asecondary synchronization signal (SSS) on the downlink in the center ofthe system bandwidth for each cell supported by the eNB. The PSS and SSSmay be transmitted in symbol periods 6 and 5, respectively, in subframes0 and 5 of each radio frame with the normal cyclic prefix, as shown inFIG. 3. The PSS and SSS may be used by UEs for cell search andacquisition and may contain, among other information, the cell ID alongwith an indication of the duplexing mode. The indication of theduplexing mode may indicate whether the cell utilizes a time divisionduplexing (TDD) or frequency division duplexing (FDD) frame structure.The eNB may transmit a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) across thesystem bandwidth for each cell supported by the eNB. The CRS may betransmitted in certain symbol periods of each subframe and may be usedby the UEs to perform channel estimation, channel quality measurement,and/or other functions. The eNB may also transmit a physical broadcastchannel (PBCH) in symbol periods 0 to 3 in slot 1 of certain radioframes. The PBCH may carry some system information. The eNB may transmitother system information such as system information blocks (SIBs) on aphysical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in certain subframes. The eNBmay transmit control information/data on a physical downlink controlchannel (PDCCH) in the first B symbol periods of a subframe, where B maybe configurable for each subframe. The eNB may transmit traffic dataand/or other data on the PDSCH in the remaining symbol periods of eachsubframe.

Channel quality measurements may be performed by a UE according to adefined schedule, such one based on the DRX cycle of the UE. Forexample, a UE may attempt to perform measurements for a serving cell atevery DRX cycle. The UE may also attempt to perform measurements fornon-serving neighboring cells. Measurements for non-serving neighborcells may be made based on a different schedule than for serving cellsand the UE may need to tune away from the serving cell to measurenon-serving cells when the UE is in connected mode.

To facilitate channel quality measurements, an eNB may transmit a cellspecific reference signal (CRS) on specific subframes. For example, aneNB may transmit CRS over subframes 0 and 5 for a given frame. Anarrowband UE may receive this signal and measure the average power ofthe received signal, or RSRP. The narrowband UE may also calculate aReceive Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) based on the total receivedsignal power from all sources. A RSRQ may be also be calculated based onthe RSRP and RSSI.

To facilitate measurements, an eNB may provide a measurementconfiguration to UEs in its coverage area. The measurement configurationmay define event triggers for measurement reporting and each eventtrigger may have associated parameters. When the UE detects a configuredmeasurement event, it may respond by sending a measurement report to theeNB with information about the associated measurement objects. Aconfigured measurement event may be, for example, a measured referencesignal received power (RSRP) or a measured reference signal receivedquality (RSRQ) satisfying a threshold. A time-to-trigger (TTT) parametercan be used to define how long a measurement event must persist beforethe UE sends its measurement report. In this way, the UE can signalchanges in its radio conditions to the network.

FIG. 4 shows two exemplary subframe formats 410 and 420 with the normalcyclic prefix. The available time frequency resources may be partitionedinto resource blocks. Each resource block may cover 12 subcarriers inone slot and may include a number of resource elements. Each resourceelement may cover one subcarrier in one symbol period and may be used tosend one modulation symbol, which may be a real or complex value.

Subframe format 410 may be used for two antennas. A CRS may betransmitted from antennas 0 and 1 in symbol periods 0, 4, 7 and 11. Areference signal is a signal that is known a priori by a transmitter anda receiver and may also be referred to as pilot. A CRS is a referencesignal that is specific for a cell, e.g., generated based on a cellidentity (ID). In FIG. 4, for a given resource element with label Ra, amodulation symbol may be transmitted on that resource element fromantenna a, and no modulation symbols may be transmitted on that resourceelement from other antennas. Subframe format 420 may be used with fourantennas. A CRS may be transmitted from antennas 0 and 1 in symbolperiods 0, 4, 7 and 11 and from antennas 2 and 3 in symbol periods 1 and8. For both subframe formats 410 and 420, a CRS may be transmitted onevenly spaced subcarriers, which may be determined based on cell ID.CRSs may be transmitted on the same or different subcarriers, dependingon their cell IDs. For both subframe formats 410 and 420, resourceelements not used for the CRS may be used to transmit data (e.g.,traffic data, control data, and/or other data).

The PSS, SSS, CRS and PBCH in LTE are described in 3GPP TS 36.211,entitled “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); PhysicalChannels and Modulation,” which is publicly available.

An interlace structure may be used for each of the downlink and uplinkfor FDD in LTE. For example, Q interlaces with indices of 0 through Q−1may be defined, where Q may be equal to 4, 6, 8, 10, or some othervalue. Each interlace may include subframes that are spaced apart by Qframes. In particular, interlace q may include subframes q, q+Q, q+2Q,etc., where q∈{0, . . . , Q−1}.

The wireless network may support hybrid automatic retransmission request(HARQ) for data transmission on the downlink and uplink. For HARQ, atransmitter (e.g., an eNB) may send one or more transmissions of apacket until the packet is decoded correctly by a receiver (e.g., a UE)or some other termination condition is encountered. For synchronousHARQ, all transmissions of the packet may be sent in subframes of asingle interlace. For asynchronous HARQ, each transmission of the packetmay be sent in any subframe.

A UE may be located within the coverage of multiple eNBs. One of theseeNBs may be selected to serve the UE. The serving eNB may be selectedbased on various criteria such as received signal strength, receivedsignal quality, pathloss, etc. Received signal quality may be quantifiedby a signal-to-noise-and-interference ratio (SINR), or a referencesignal received quality (RSRQ), or some other metric. The UE may operatein a dominant interference scenario in which the UE may observe highinterference from one or more interfering eNBs.

Example Narrowband Communications

The focus of traditional LTE design is on the improvement of spectralefficiency, ubiquitous coverage, and enhanced quality of service (QoS)support. Current LTE system downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) link budgetsare designed for coverage of high end devices, such as state-of-the-artsmartphones and tablets, which may support a relatively large DL and ULlink budget.

However, as described above, one or more UEs in the wirelesscommunication network (e.g., wireless communication network 100) may bedevices that have limited communication resources, such as narrowbandUEs, as compared to other (wideband) devices in the wirelesscommunication network. For narrowband UEs, various requirements may berelaxed as only a limited amount of information may need to beexchanged. For example, maximum bandwidth may be reduced (relative towideband UEs), a single receive radio frequency (RF) chain may be used,peak rate may be reduced (e.g., a maximum of 100 bits for a transportblock size), transmit power may be reduced, Rank 1 transmission may beused, and half duplex operation may be performed.

The wireless communication network may support a 180 kHz deployment fornarrowband operation (e.g., MTC/eMTC, narrowband internet of things(NB-IoT)) with different deployment modes. In one example, narrowbandoperations may be deployed in-band, for example, using resource blockswithin a wider system bandwidth. In this deployment, narrowbandoperations in one case may use one resource block within the widersystem bandwidth of an LTE network. In such a case, the 180 kHzbandwidth for the resource block may have to be aligned with a widebandLTE resource block. In another example, narrowband operations may bedeployed in a standalone mode of operation. In this deployment,narrowband communications may reuse the GSM carrier, which can be placedanywhere in a 100 kHz raster. In yet another example, narrowbandoperations may be deployed in the unused resource blocks within a LTEcarrier guard-band. In this deployment, the 180 kHz RB within the guardband may have to be aligned with a 15 kHz tone grid of wideband LTE, forexample, in order to use the same FFT and/or reduce interference withrespect to in-band legacy LTE communications.

A 100 kHz frequency raster is considered for NB-IoT. A frequency (orchannel) raster generally refers to the steps or frequencies that can beused by a communication device, such as a narrowband or NB-IoT device(e.g., in order to search for channels used by a cell). Thus, a 100 kHzchannel raster would generally mean that the center frequency that canbe used for narrowband communications is a multiple of 100 kHz (e.g.,any frequency of the form 100 kHz*n).

A 100 kHz frequency raster, however, may not be suitable for some of thedeployment modes for NB-IoT. For example, a 100 kHz frequency raster maynot be suitable for in-band deployment, because legacy LTE follows a 100kHz raster, but the RB structure (e.g., for NB-IoT) introduces steps of180 kHz plus a 7.5 kHz offset due to the DC (direct current) subcarrier.FIG. 5 illustrates one example six resource block system (with RBs502-512), in which a 100 kHz frequency raster is used with 180 kHzresource blocks. As shown, due in part to the half-subcarrier DC shift,none of the center frequencies for RBs 502-512 are in a multiple of theraster frequency (e.g., 100 kHz*N). Rather, as shown, for in-band andguard band, the possible frequency offsets are +−2.5 kHz, and +−7.5 kHz.

However, even though none of the center RB frequencies are in a multipleof the raster frequency, because the two center RBs 506 and 508 are 2.5kHz apart from the raster frequency, a UE may be able to lock on to themand estimate a 2.5 kHz frequency offset. Although the UE may be able toget the correct frequency offset in this situation, synchronizing tothese frequencies may create a timing drift for the UE (e.g., if thetiming and frequency oscillator share the same clock).

Example Channel Raster Design for Narrowband Operation

Aspects of the present disclosure provide a raster design for channels,which may be detected by devices that communicate using relativenarrowband regions of system bandwidth, such as NB-IoT devices. Inparticular, the techniques presented herein allow devices (e.g., UEs,eNBs, etc.) to determine an exact (or precise) frequency location (orposition) of a channel for narrowband communications, based on one ormore conditions.

FIG. 6 illustrates example operations 600 for wireless communications,in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Theoperations 600 may be performed, for example, by a BS (e.g., eNB 110).

The operations 600 begin, at 602, by the BS determining, based on one ormore conditions, an exact frequency location of one channel of one ormore channels to perform narrowband communications with a UE (e.g., UE120). At 604, the BS transmits an indication of the one or moreconditions to the UE. At 606, the BS communicates with the UE, based atleast in part on the exact frequency location of the one channel.

FIG. 7 illustrates example operations 700 for wireless communications,in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Theoperations 700 may be performed, for example, by a UE (e.g., UE 120).

The operations 700 begin, at 702, by the UE performing a cell search inone or more channels. In one aspect, the UE may perform the cell searchin the one or more channels based on the raster frequency. For example,if the raster frequency is 100 kHz, the UE may monitor for PSS/SSS every100 kHz in order to acquire frequency, timing, and/or systeminformation. In some cases, the one or more channels in which the UEperforms the cell search may be based on a rough frequency estimation.At 704, the UE determines that a cell is present in one channel of theone or more channels. At 706, the UE determines, based on one or moreconditions, the exact (or precise) frequency location of the one channelfor narrowband communications with a base station of the cell. At 708,the UE communicates with the base station based at least in part on theexact frequency location of the one channel.

According to certain aspects, the one or more conditions may include agiven operating bandwidth. In this aspect, the UE and/or BS maydetermine that there is one anchor channel (or resource block) locationin which narrowband communications may be deployed for a givenbandwidth. Once determined, the UE and/or BS may determine the exactfrequency location by selecting the anchor channel that corresponds tothe given operating bandwidth. In this manner, the techniques herein cansubstantially reduce the hypothesis for cell searching.

Additionally or alternatively, according to certain aspects, the one ormore conditions may include a cell identifier (ID). For example, oncethe UE determines the cell ID (e.g., from PSS and SSS), the UE mayselect the anchor channel location based in part, on the cell ID. In oneimplementation, the UE and/or BS may determine the precise anchorlocation according to the following:

Anchor RB=cell ID mod (number of possible RBs)   (1)

where the cell ID is determined from PSS and SSS, and wherein the numberof possible RBs may be based on the system bandwidth. For example, for asystem bandwidth of 20 MHz, there may be four possible RBs (such as RB0, RB 10, RB 20 and RB 40). By using the above equation, the UE maydetermine the anchor RB being used by the current cell.

According to certain aspects, there may be more than one anchor RBdefined. In these cases, the UE may select the anchor RB location from aset of anchor channels at or near raster frequency locations. Forexample, the UE may select the RBs that are close to the rasterfrequency to obtain a first subset of RBs. The UE may then down-selectthe first subset of RBs to obtain a second subset of RBs. In some cases,the UE may down-select the first subset of RBs based on the cell ID. Insome cases, the down-selection may be determined according to acommunication standard (e.g., defined in a LTE specification). Once theUE obtains the second subset, the UE may determine which RB in thesecond subset is being used from broadcast signaling (e.g., one or morebits in MIB/SIB, etc.) transmitted by the BS.

According to certain aspects, the network/BS may choose to whether touse one fixed anchor RB location for every operating bandwidth or tobase the anchor RB on its cell ID. In some cases, the BS may decide touse a fixed anchor RB location in order to have all narrowbandcommunications deployed in the same frequency. In some cases, the BS maydecide to use an anchor RB that is based on the cell ID in order toreduce inter-cell interference. In either case, the BS may indicate tothe UE the exact frequency location (e.g., if the BS determines that theanchor RB location will use a fixed RB) or indicate to the UE that theUE should determine the exact frequency location based on the cell ID.Such indication may be provided via broadcast signalling (e.g., 1 bit inPBCH/MIB).

In some cases, the BS may not transmit (or signal) an indication to theUE as to how the BS will select the anchor RB location. In these cases,the UE can blindly try different CRS sequences for the different RBs todetermine which RB is used as the anchor. For example, when performingthe blind detection, the UE may choose the RB that has the bestcorrelation with the observed CRS.

According to some aspects, the one or more conditions may include a typeof deployment for the narrowband communications. In one aspect, the typeof deployment may be based on a number of antenna ports used by the BS.The BS, for example, may include information about the number of legacyCRS antenna ports in the PBCH, and transmit the PBCH to the UE. In onecase, if the UE receives an indication that the number of antenna portsis greater than 0 (e.g., 1 port, 2 ports, or 4 ports), the UE maydetermine that narrowband communications are being deployed in-band. Inone case, if the UE receives an indication that the number of antennaports is 0, the UE may determine that narrowband communications arebeing deployed in dedicated spectrum (for a standalone deployment) or inthe guard band.

In certain aspects, the BS may signal an indication of the one or moreconditions via the master information block (MIB) that is transmitted inPBCH. The MIB may carry, for example, a 3-bit field that indicates thebandwidth of the cell; however all of the values may not be used. Forexample, in some cases, only 6 values may be used to indicate thebandwidth. According to certain aspects, based on how the 3 bit field inMIB is interpreted, the UE and/or BS may determine different types ofinformation regarding the narrowband communications deployed in cell.

In one aspect, the BS may use one additional value out of the 6 values(of the 3-bit field in MIB) to signal a particular bandwidth thatindicates standalone deployment. In one case, for example, the BS mayuse one additional value to signal bandwidth equal to 200 kHz in orderto indicate a standalone deployment for the narrowband communications.For the guard band case, the BS can provide to the UE signalling thatindicates the true bandwidth value of the corresponding system (e.g., 20MHz in one case for LTE). If the guard-band location is fixed for everyresource block, then the UE would be able to determine (from thesignalling) all the information it needs to acquire the cell.

In another aspect, the BS may use the 3-bit field to signal differenttypes of information based on the number of antenna ports. The UE, inturn, may also interpret the 3 bit field differently based on the numberof antenna ports, which may be signaled separately by the BS. Forexample, if the number of antenna ports is greater than zero (and thusindicates in-band), the BS may use the 3-bit field to signal thebandwidth, and the UE may determine (based on the indication of thenumber of antenna ports) that the field signals the bandwidth. In thiscase, the UE may be able to determine the absolute frequency value(e.g., the anchor RB) using any of the above techniques. In one example,if the number of antenna ports is equal to zero (and thus indicatesguard band or standalone), the BS may use the 3-bit field to indicatethe frequency offset with respect to a frequency grid (e.g., 100 kHzfrequency grid), and the UE may determine (based on the indication ofthe number of antenna ports) that the field signals the offset withrespect to the frequency grid. For example, the BS can signal frequencyoffset values of −7.5, 7.5, −2.5, 2.5, and 0. In this case, signaling afrequency offset of 0 may imply a standalone deployment, whereassignalling another value may imply a guard band deployment.

Note that although the aspects presented herein describe the BSsignaling to the UE various information (e.g., such as antenna ports,frequency offset, bandwidth, etc.) in PBCH that the UE may use todetermine a frequency location (e.g., anchor RB) and/or type ofdeployment, such information may also be indicated in other signals,such as PSS, SSS, etc., or combination of signals (e.g., split betweenPSS, SSS, MIB, PBCH, and other signals).

As mentioned above, for in-band deployment, the UE may not receivesignaling that indicates the frequency offset, since the UE can derivethe frequency offset based on an indication of the anchor RB.

According to certain aspects, however, the BS may be configured toalways signal the frequency offset with respect to the frequency grid(e.g., 100 kHz grid) regardless of the deployment type. Thus, insituations where narrowband communications are being deployed in-band,the UE may not know which RB is being used, which could prevent the UEfrom using CRS.

As such, in some aspects, after receiving an indication of the frequencyoffset, the UE may receive an indication of the absolute RB position viaa SIB. In some aspects, after receiving an indication of the frequencyoffset the UE may receive an indication of the RB offset plus the anchorRB. In one example, the BS may signal five possibilities of the RBoffset, which may include +−2.5, +−7.5, and 0. In one example, the BSmay signal three possibilities of the RB offset, which may include >0,<0, or 0.

Additionally, in some aspects, if the deployment type is known (e.g., bythe BS and/or UE), the guard band offset can be fixed to a constantvalue. For example, the narrowband communications may be fixed to RBswith a center frequency of 7.5 kHz with respect to the 100 kHz raster.Thus, the guard band may not have to be aligned with the physicalresource block boundary, but may have to be aligned with the 15 kHzboundary in order to reuse the same IFFT. FIG. 8, for example,illustrates one example (for a 3 resource block system) of leaving oneor more guard tones to align with the frequency raster.

As shown in FIG. 8, in a system 800 including three RBs (e.g., RB 0, RB1, RB 2), the guard band RB 802 is placed at DC+367.5 kHz. As thisfrequency is not close (e.g., not within some offset) to a rasterfrequency, the first guard band RB 802 may not be used for narrowbandcommunications. Aspects of the present disclosure, therefore, allow theBS to place one or more guard tones to align the guard band with araster frequency. For example, as also shown in FIG. 8, for the guardband RB 804, two tones (REs) 806 and 808 (e.g., a 30 kHz gap) are placedin the guard band RB 804, so that the center frequency is placed atDC+397.5 kHz. Because this frequency is placed within a 2.5 kHz offsetof the raster frequency, the UE can detect the frequency, for example,when searching for DC+400 kHz.

According to certain aspects, the BS may know that the UE is going tosearch for a particular raster frequency (e.g., such as 100 kHz). Thus,in these cases, the BS may apply a frequency shift to align transmissionof a PSS and a SSS with a raster frequency. For example, the BS canapply a fake frequency shift (e.g., +−2.5 kHz, +−7.5 kHz) such that thefrequency estimated from PSS/SSS matches the true frequency. Putdifferently, the BS may attempt to center the sync signal(s) to theraster frequency.

In some aspects, if the BS applies a fake frequency shift, the UE, whendecoding PBCH, may shift the PBCH and the corresponding CRS to match thefake frequency shift (e.g., 2.5 kHz, 7.5 kHz, etc.). In some aspects,the BS may signal the shift in SSS, so that the UE can correct thefrequency shift before decoding PBCH.

In some cases, a small subset of RBs may be allocated using thetechniques described above. For example, for a 15 RB system, RB index 0may be at DC, RB index 1 may be at 187.5 kHz, RB index 2 may be at 367.5kHz, RB index 3 may be at 547.5 kHz, RB index 4 may be at 727.5 kHz, RBindex 5 is at 907.5 kHz, RB index 6 is at 1087.5 kHz, and RB index 7 isat 1267.5 kHz. In this case, only RB index 5 would lie close enough tothe raster frequency to be detected by a UE.

According to certain aspects, the BS may apply a tone shift to aligntransmission of a PSS and SSS with a raster frequency. For example, atone shift can be applied to the PSS/SSS to allow the UE to detect otheradditional frequencies in the subset of RBs. In one aspect, a tone shiftof +−1 RE (e.g., 15 kHz) can be applied to the PSS/SSS. For example, ifa tone shift of +15 kHz were applied to each of the above RB indexes, RBindex 1 would then lie close enough to the raster frequency to bedetected by UE (e.g., RB index 1+15 kHz=202.5). Similarly, RB index 6would lie close enough to the raster frequency to be detected by the UE(e.g., RB index 6+15 kHz=1102.5).

In one aspect, the UE may determine the exact frequency location basedon decoding PSS and SSS. In one aspect, the UE may obtain signalingindicating the tone shift and may use the signaled tone shift whendecoding a PBCH. For example, in one embodiment, after the UE decodesPSS and SSS, the UE may have to resolve the ambiguity related to theoffset, otherwise the UE may not be able to rate match around legacy CRScorrectly. According to certain aspects, the UE may take one or moreactions to resolve such ambiguity. In one example, the UE may receive anindication of the tone shift via SSS, such that the UE can know thecorrect CRS puncturing when decoding PBCH. In one example, the UE mayreceive an indication of the tone shift in PBCH. However, in order tomake PBCH decodable without knowing the position of legacy CRS, the UEmay have legacy CRS puncture PBCH, and the narrowband reference signalposition may take the offset into account. Alternatively, instead ofreceiving signaling that indicates the tone shift, the UE may trydifferent blind decoding attempts for different frequency offsethypothesis.

According to certain aspects, the raster frequencies can be clustered(e.g., non uniformly distributed) throughout the system bandwidth. Forexample, the frequencies can be of the form {N*100 kHz, N*100 kHz+10kHz, N*100 kHz−10 kHz}.

According to certain aspects, the NB-IoT channel may be deployedin-band, using RBs that are close to the 100 kHz raster frequency grid.In this case, the eNB may signal the frequency location based on theconstraint that only a subset of the RBs may be available for NB-IoTtransmission.

FIG. 9 illustrates example operations 900 for wireless communications,in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Theoperations 900 may be performed, for example, by a BS (e.g., eNB 110).

The operations 900 begin, at 902, by the BS transmitting to a UEinformation indicative of a frequency location of a channel of one ormore channels, a number of antenna ports, and a deployment mode fornarrowband communications with the BS. At 904, the BS communicates withthe UE, based at least in part on the frequency location of the channel,the number of antenna ports, and the deployment mode.

FIG. 10 illustrates example operations 1000 for wireless communications,in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Theoperations 1000 may be performed, for example, by a UE (e.g., UE 120).

The operations 1000 begin, at 1002, by the UE performing a cell searchin one or more channels. At 1004, the UE determines that a cell ispresent in one channel of the one or more channels. At 1006, the UEdetermines a frequency location of the one channel, a number of antennaports, and a deployment mode for narrowband communications with a BS ofthe cell. At 1008, the UE communicates with the BS, based at least inpart on the frequency location of the one channel, the number of antennaports, and the deployment mode.

In some aspects, the BS may signal at least one of a deployment mode,frequency location (or position) of the one channel, a number of CRSantenna ports or a same cell ID indicator in the MIB. For example, theBS may use one or more fields of the MIB to signal the information tothe UE. In one aspect, the number of antenna ports may be determinedbased at least in part on a first field in the MIB. The frequencylocation of the channel may be determined based in part on the firstfield in the MIB and second field in the MIB. The deployment mode may bedetermined based in part on the first field in the MIB and second fieldin the MIB.

In some cases, the one channel may be located in a narrowband region ofwider system bandwidth, and the UE may use the same cell ID indicator todetermine if the cell ID of the cell in which the BS is located is thesame as a cell ID for a wideband cell that uses the wider systembandwidth. Using LTE as a reference example, the UE may use the samecell ID indicator to determine if the cell ID for NB-IoT is the same asthe cell of wideband LTE.

As noted above, the MIB may include a first field to indicate the numberof CRS antenna ports. In some cases, the number of CRS antenna ports maybe one of 0, 1, 2 or 4. As noted above, in such cases, signalling 0 CRSantenna ports may be interpreted as the deployment being standalone orguard band, and signalling a positive number (e.g., greater than 0) ofCRS ports may be interpreted as in-band deployment.

In one aspect, the MIB may include a second field to indicate asame/different physical cell ID (PCID) and may include a third field toindicate the bandwidth and/or deployment mode. For example, the secondfield may be one bit, indicating if the PCID is the same (e.g., 1) ordifferent (e.g., 0). The third field may include a plurality of bits,and its meaning may depend on the number of CRS antenna ports. Forexample, if the number of CRS antenna ports is 0, this third field maysignal the offset with respect to the raster frequency (e.g., a multipleof 100 kHz) as {−7.5, −2.5, 0, 2.5, 7.5}, with an offset of 0 meaningstandalone deployments and other offset values corresponding to guardband deployment. If the number of CRS antenna ports is 1, the thirdfield may signal the offset of a resource block with respect to a centerfrequency.

In some aspects, determining the frequency location of the channel mayinclude determining a frequency offset with respect to a rasterfrequency based in part on the second field in the MIB, and determiningthe frequency position based in part on the frequency offset. In someaspects, determining the frequency location of the channel may includedetermining a physical resource block (PRB) position with respect to acenter frequency of a wideband cell based on the second field in theMIB, and determining the frequency location based in part on the PRBposition.

For example, the second field in the MIB may be used to jointly indicatea same/different PCID and a frequency/deployment mode. If the number ofCRS ports is 0, then the second field may indicate the offset withrespect to raster frequency as indicated above. If the number of CRSports is greater than zero, then a first subset of the entries in thesecond field may be reserved to signal that the PCID is different, pluspossible offsets (e.g., the 5 noted above) with respect to the rasterfrequency. A second subset of the entries in the second field may bereserved to signal that the PCID is the same, and each of the entries inthe second subset may signal a PRB location (or position) and/or abandwidth value.

In one aspect, an additional indication may be included in MIB todetermine that the deployment is in unlicensed spectrum.

According to certain aspects, it may be desirable to deploy machine typecommunications (e.g., enhanced or evolved MTC (eMTC)) and narrowbandcommunications (e.g., NB-IoT) in the same cell. However, such adeployment may not be possible with current agreements for thetransmission of broadcast signalling (e.g., SIB1bis transmissions).

For example, SIB1 may be hopped per the following agreements. Frequencyhopping for SIB1bis may be used at least for system bandwidths greaterthan or equal to 5 MHz. SIB1s frequency hopping may take place betweentwo or four narrowbands depending on the system bandwidth. For example,there may be two narrowbands for a system bandwidth of 12-50 RBs, andthere may be four narrowbands for a system bandwidth of 51-110 RBs. Thenarrowbands may be determined based on cell ID and system bandwidth. Thehopping sequence between these narrowbands may be determined based oncell ID and subframe index (and/or system frame number (SFN)).

The frequency hopping for SIB1bis may be given by:

S={s₀, s₁, s₂, . . . , s_(k-1)},   (2)

where S is a set of valid DL narrowbands s, and k is equal to the numberof valid narrowbands for SIB1bis. For system bandwidths less than 12RBs, SIB1bis may be transmitted in narrowband s_(j) where j is equal tophysical cell identifier (PCID) mod k. For system bandwidths between12-50 RBs, the first narrowband may be s_(j) where j=PCID mod k, thesecond narrowband may be (s_(j)+floor(k/2)) mod k, and the SIB1bistransmission may cycle through {1^(st) NB, 2^(nd) NB} starting at SFNmod 8=0. For system bandwidths between 51-110 RBs, the first narrowbandmay be s_(j) where j=PCID mod k, the second narrowband may be(s_(j)+floor(k/4)) mod k, the third narrowband may be(s_(j)+2*floor(k/4)) mod k, the fourth narrowband may be(s_(j)+3*floor(k/4)) mod k, and the SIB1bis transmission may cyclethrough {1^(st) NB, 2^(nd) NB, 3^(rd) NB, 4^(th) NB} starting at SFN mod8=0. Additionally, SIB1bis transmissions may be scheduled in MIB withfive spare bits. The TBS and repetition of the SIB1bis transmission maybe determined from the table illustrated in FIG. 11.

Aspects presented herein provide techniques that allow for deploying,for example, eMTC and NB-IoT, in the same cell.

According to aspects, the eNodeB may determine the particularimplementation of deployment of eMTC operations and narrowbandcommunications within a cell. In these cases, there may be no change toeMTC operation. In one case, for example, the eNodeB may signal thesubframes containing SIB1bis as NB-IoT invalid subframes. Thissignalling can be RB-specific. Put differently, different RBs may havedifferent subframe availability, and the RBs and subframes with SIB1bistransmission may be signalled as invalid.

Additionally or alternatively, in another case, the eNodeB may use bruteforce puncturing to allow for deployment of eMTC operations andnarrowband communications in the same cell. For example, the eNodeB maypuncture SIB1bis by transmission of NB-IoT RBs. In some cases, theeNodeB may use the least amount of resources possible to avoiddegradation to eMTC UE reading SIB1bis.

According to certain aspects, deployment of eMTC and narrowbandcommunications in the same cell may be possible by re-defining thenarrowbands for SIB1bis. For example, the set S (shown in equation 2) ofSIB1bis narrowbands s already excludes the center six RBs. Thus, in oneaspect, re-defining the narrowbands for SIB1bis may include removing atleast one subset (s_(i)) of the set S that may contain NB-IoT anchor RB,where i is from 0 to k−1. For example, if so (where i=0) contains aNB-IoT RB, then s₀ may be removed from the set S (shown in equation 2).In some cases, the removal of a subset s_(i) may be PCID specific (e.g.,different PCID may have different sets).

In one aspect, re-defining the narrowbands for SIB1bis may includeremoving subsets si for a subset of the SIB1bis combinations. Forexample, new entries may be introduced into a SIB1bis table (such as thetable illustrated in FIG. 12), and the subsets si that may be removedfrom the set S may be done in accordance with the entries in the table.

Additionally or alternatively, according to certain aspects, deploymentof eMTC and narrowband communications in the same cell may be possibleby adjusting NB-IoT physical resource blocks based on SIB1bis. Asmentioned above, there may be some cases in which the NB-IoT RB (anchorchannel location) depends on the cell ID. For example, as mentionedabove, the anchor RB location may be determined using equation 1. Inanother example mentioned above, there may be more than one anchor RBdefined, and the UE may down-select from the anchor RB locations basedon the cell ID.

In these cases, according to certain aspects, the down-selection may bebased on PCID as follows: the RBs that are used for SIB1bis eMTC (basedon PCID) may be discarded; and the remaining RBs may be furtherdown-selected if needed, e.g., using the techniques described.

According to certain aspects, deployment of eMTC and narrowbandcommunications in the same cell may be possible using a combination ofthe table illustrated in FIG. 12 and adjusting the NB-IoT RBs based onSIB1bis. For example, if there are entries in the new SIB1bis table(e.g., in FIG. 12) that do not remove NB-IoT, the narrowband RBs (forthese entries) may be adjusted based on SIB1bis.

As used herein, the term “identifying” encompasses a wide variety ofactions. For example, “identifying” may include calculating, computing,processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in atable, a database or another data structure), ascertaining and the like.Also, “identifying” may include receiving (e.g., receiving information),accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also,“identifying” may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishingand the like.

In some cases, rather than actually communicating a frame, a device mayhave an interface to communicate a frame for transmission or reception.For example, a processor may output a frame, via a bus interface, to anRF front end for transmission. Similarly, rather than actually receivinga frame, a device may have an interface to obtain a frame received fromanother device. For example, a processor may obtain (or receive) aframe, via a bus interface, from an RF front end for transmission.

The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps or actions forachieving the described method. The method steps and/or actions may beinterchanged with one another without departing from the scope of theclaims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions isspecified, the order and/or use of specific steps and/or actions may bemodified without departing from the scope of the claims.

The various operations of methods described above may be performed byany suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions.The means may include various hardware and/or software component(s)and/or module(s), including, but not limited to a circuit, anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a processor, or aprocessing system. Examples of processors include microprocessors,microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines,gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardwareconfigured to perform the various functionality described throughoutthis disclosure. One or more components and/or modules may executesoftware. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions,instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs,subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications,software packages, firmware, routines, subroutines, objects,executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whetherreferred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardwaredescription language, or otherwise. Generally, where there areoperations illustrated in Figures, those operations may be performed byany suitable corresponding counterpart means-plus-function components.

For example, means receiving, means for monitoring, and/or means forcommunicating may include a receiver, such as receive processor 238,MIMO detector 236, demodulator(s) 232 a-232 t, and/or antenna(s) 234a-234 t of the base station 110 illustrated in FIG. 2 and/or MIMOdetector 256, receive processor 258, demodulator(s) 254 a-254 r, and/orantenna(s) 252 a-252 r of the user equipment 120 illustrated in FIG. 2.Means for determining, means for generating, means for monitoring, meansfor decoding, means for indicating, means for transmitting, means forcommunicating, means for signaling, means for selecting, and/or meansfor performing, may include one or more processors (or a processingsystem), such as controller/processor 240, scheduler 246, transmitterprocessor 220, receive processor 238, MIMO detector 236, TX MIMOprocessor 230, and/or modulator(s)/demodulator(s) 232 a-232 t of thebase station 110 illustrated in FIG. 2, and/or controller/processor 280,receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, MIMO detector 256, TXMIMO processor 266, and/or modulator(s)/demodulator(s) 254 a-254 r ofthe user equipment 120 illustrated in FIG. 2. Means for signaling, meansfor transmitting, means for communicating and/or means for indicatingmay include a transmitter, such as transmit processor 220, TX MIMOprocessor 230, modulator(s) 232 a-232 t, and/or antenna(s) 234 a-234 tof the base station 110 illustrated in FIG. 2, and/or transmit processor264, TX MIMO processor 266, modulator(s) 254 a-254 r, and/or antenna(s)252 a-252 r of the user equipment 120 illustrated in FIG. 2.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signalsmay be represented using any of a variety of different technologies andtechniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information,signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout theabove description may be represented by voltages, currents,electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields orparticles, or combinations thereof.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrativelogical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described inconnection with the disclosure herein may be implemented as electronichardware, software, or combinations thereof. To clearly illustrate thisinterchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrativecomponents, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been describedabove generally in terms of their functionality. Whether suchfunctionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon theparticular application and design constraints imposed on the overallsystem. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality invarying ways for each particular application, but such implementationdecisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from thescope of the present disclosure.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performedwith a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. Ageneral-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be, for example, any conventionalprocessor, controller, microcontroller, FPGA, PLD, DSP, state machine,etc. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computingdevices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a pluralityof microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with aDSP core, or any other such configuration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with thedisclosure herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a softwaremodule executed by a processor, or in a combination thereof. A softwaremodule may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory,EEPROM memory, phase change memory, registers, hard disk, a removabledisk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Anexemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that theprocessor can read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in anASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, theprocessor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in auser terminal.

In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, or combinations thereof. Ifimplemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmittedover as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium.Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media andcommunication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of acomputer program from one place to another. A storage media may be anyavailable media that can be accessed by a general purpose or specialpurpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, suchcomputer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD/DVD or otheroptical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storagedevices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desiredprogram code means in the form of instructions or data structures andthat can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer,or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connectionis properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if thesoftware is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote sourceusing a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digitalsubscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio,and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair,DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave areincluded in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein,includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatiledisc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproducedata magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

As used herein, reference to an element in the singular is not intendedto mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather“one or more.” For example, the articles “a” and “an” as used in thisapplication and the appended claims should generally be construed tomean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from the contextto be directed to a singular form. Unless specifically stated otherwise,the term “some” refers to one or more. As used herein, the term“and/or,” when used in a list of two or more items, means that any oneof the listed items can be employed by itself, or any combination of twoor more of the listed items can be employed. For example, if acomposition is described as containing components A, B, and/or C, thecomposition can contain A alone; B alone; C alone; A and B incombination; A and C in combination; B and C in combination; or A, B,and C in combination. Also, as used herein, including in the claims,“or” as used in a list of items (for example, a list of items prefacedby a phrase such as “at least one of” or “one or more of”) indicates adisjunctive list such that, for example, a list of “at least one of A,B, or C” means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (“ABC” indicating Aand B and C), as well as any combination with multiples of the sameelement (e.g., AA, AAA, ABB, AAC, ABBCC or any other ordering of A, B,C).

The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable anyperson skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Variousmodifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may beapplied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scopeof the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited tothe examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded thewidest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosedherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for wireless communications by a userequipment (UE), comprising: receiving, from a base station (BS), amaster information block (MIB) comprising a field that jointly indicates(i) a type of deployment for narrowband communications and (ii) whethera cell identifier (ID) of a first cell associated with the BS is thesame as a cell ID of a second cell; determining, based at least in parton the field of the MIB, an exact frequency location of one channel toperform the narrowband communications, wherein the one channelcorresponds to an anchor physical resource block for the narrowbandcommunications; and communicating based at least in part on the exactfrequency location of the one channel.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising receiving an indication of whether the exact frequencylocation coincides with a narrowband available for receiving a systeminformation block (SIB) for enhanced machine type communication (eMTC),wherein a set of narrowbands available for receiving the SIB for eMTC isreduced by one or more narrowbands available as an anchor channellocation for a given operating bandwidth.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising receiving an indication of an operating bandwidth ofthe UE, wherein determining the exact frequency location furthercomprises selecting an anchor channel location for the operatingbandwidth.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein: the one channel isdetermined from a number of channels; and the number of channels isbased on a cell ID.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein: frequencylocations of one or more channels of the number of channels correspondto raster frequency locations; and the raster frequency locations arenon-uniformly distributed.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprisingreceiving an indication of the exact frequency location from the BS. 7.The method of claim 6, wherein the indication of the exact frequencylocation comprises a frequency offset with respect to a frequency grid.8. The method of claim 6, wherein the indication of the exact frequencylocation is provided in at least one of a MIB, a primary synchronizationsignal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), or a physicaldownlink broadcast channel (PBCH).
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein thetype of deployment is an in-band deployment.
 10. The method of claim 1,further comprising receiving an indication of a number of antenna portsused for cell-specific reference signals (CRSs), wherein the exactfrequency location is further determined based on the number of antennaports used for CRSs.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprisingreceiving an indication of an operating bandwidth or a frequency offsetwith respect to a frequency grid, wherein the exact frequency locationis further determined based on at least one of the operating bandwidthor the frequency offset.
 12. An apparatus for wireless communications,comprising: at least one processor; and memory coupled to the at leastone processor, the memory including instructions executable by the atleast one processor to cause the apparatus to: receive, from a basestation (BS), a master information block (MIB) comprising a field thatjointly indicates (i) a type of deployment for narrowband communicationsand (ii) whether a cell identifier (ID) of a first cell associated withthe BS is the same as a cell ID of a second cell; determine, based atleast in part on the field of the MIB, an exact frequency location ofone channel to perform the narrowband communications, wherein the onechannel corresponds to an anchor physical resource block for thenarrowband communications; and communicate based at least in part on theexact frequency location of the one channel.
 13. The apparatus of claim12, wherein: the memory includes instructions executable by the at leastone processor to cause the apparatus to receive an indication of whetherthe exact frequency location coincides with a narrowband available forreceiving a system information block (SIB) for enhanced machine typecommunication (eMTC); and a set of narrowbands available for receivingthe SIB for eMTC is reduced by one or more narrowbands available as ananchor channel location for a given operating bandwidth.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 12, wherein: the memory includes instructionsexecutable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus toreceive an indication of an operating bandwidth of the UE; anddetermining the exact frequency location further comprises selecting ananchor channel location for the operating bandwidth.
 15. The apparatusof claim 12, wherein: the one channel is determined from a number ofchannels; and the number of channels is based on a cell ID.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 15, wherein: frequency locations of one or morechannels of the number of channels correspond to raster frequencylocations; and the raster frequency locations are non-uniformlydistributed.
 17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the memory includesinstructions executable by the at least one processor to cause theapparatus to receive an indication of the exact frequency location fromthe BS.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the indication of theexact frequency location comprises a frequency offset with respect to afrequency grid.
 19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the indication ofthe exact frequency location is provided in at least one of a MIB, aprimary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal(SSS), or a physical downlink broadcast channel (PBCH).
 20. Theapparatus of claim 12, wherein the type of deployment is an in-banddeployment.
 21. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein: the memory includesinstructions executable by the at least one processor to cause theapparatus to receive an indication of a number of antenna ports used forcell-specific reference signals (CRSs); and the exact frequency locationis further determined based on the number of antenna ports used forCRSs.
 22. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein: the memory includesinstructions executable by the at least one processor to cause theapparatus to receive an indication of an operating bandwidth or afrequency offset with respect to a frequency grid; and the exactfrequency location is further determined based on at least one of theoperating bandwidth or the frequency offset.
 23. An apparatus forwireless communications, comprising: means for receiving, from a basestation (BS), a master information block (MIB) comprising a field thatjointly indicates (i) a type of deployment for narrowband communicationsand (ii) whether a cell identifier (ID) of a first cell associated withthe BS is the same as a cell ID of a second cell; means for determining,based at least in part on the field of the MIB, an exact frequencylocation of one channel to perform the narrowband communications,wherein the one channel corresponds to an anchor physical resource blockfor the narrowband communications; and means for communicating based atleast in part on the exact frequency location of the one channel.
 24. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium for wireless communication by auser equipment (UE), the computer-readable medium having computerexecutable code stored thereon, comprising: code for receiving, from abase station (BS), a master information block (MIB) comprising a fieldthat jointly indicates (i) a type of deployment for narrowbandcommunications and (ii) whether a cell identifier (ID) of a first cellassociated with the BS is the same as a cell ID of a second cell; codefor determining, based at least in part on the field of the MIB, anexact frequency location of one channel to perform the narrowbandcommunications, wherein the one channel corresponds to an anchorphysical resource block for the narrowband communications; and code forcommunicating based at least in part on the exact frequency location ofthe one channel.